WAYNE CO. CC JUDGE THOMAS HATHWAY DISMISSED SEARCY’S 1999 MURDER CASE WITH PREJUDICE OCTOBER 3, 2022
WCCC Judge Thomas Hathaway
“This Court concludes that the damage caused by the suppression and withholding of the exculpatory evidence cannot be cured. Therefore, it holds that dismissal of the charges [with prejudice] is appropriate given the severe and deliberate violations of the defendant’s due process rights that denied him a fair and impartial trial. Accordingly, this Court GRANTS defendant’s Motion to Dismiss — WCCC Judge Thomas Hathaway
N.MEX. JUDGE MARY M. SOMMER DISMISSED CASE V. ALEC BALDWIN ‘WITH PREJUDICE’ IN JULY, 2024 USING SIMILAR LANGUAGE
“The state’s discovery violation has injected a needless, incurable delay into the jury trial. Dismissal with prejudice is warranted to ensure the integrity of the judicial system and the efficient administration of justice. Your motion to dismiss with prejudice is granted.” 1st District Judge Mary M. Sommer
New Mexico Prosecutor recently dropped appeal of Judge Sommer’s order
Davontae Sanford /Kym Worthy.
But Wayne Co. Prosecutor Kym Worthy, known across U.S. as “Innocence Denier” appeals state court rulings TO DEATH, e.g. Davontae Sanford, Maryanne Godboldo, Lamarr Monson, Darrell Ewing, et. al.
Searcy’s second pre-trial hearing Jan. 31, 2025, jury trial date March 31, 2025
(L to r) Shawn Searcy, daughters Paige and Shyra, and wife Tyria Searcy with grandchildren after release in 2022
DETROIT, MI — Thelonious ‘Shawn’ Searcy is asking supporters to come to his pre-trial hearing Fri. Jan. 10, at 9 AM in front of Judge Nicholas Hathaway at Detroit’s Criminal ‘Justice’ Center. Voice of Detroit has extensively covered Shawn’s battle for exoneration, which he won Oct. 3, 2022, and calls on its readers to support Shawn as well.
This is not only about Shawn. It concerns thousands who have been railroaded in Wayne Co. Circuit Court since the 1970’s, many still rotting in MDOC prisons.
On Oct. 3, 2022, 3rd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Thomas Hathaway dismissed all charges against Thelonious ‘Shawn’ Searcy for the murder of Jamal Segars, with prejudice, meaning they could not be refiled. The stinging order repeatedly rebuked the prosecution for “allowing blatant lies to stand.”
He said Wayne Co, prosecutors and police deliberately withheld evidence that should have been given to the defense under Brady v. Maryland :: 373 U.S. 83 (1963), a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. That evidence would have saved Searcy from spending 17 years in prison for the Sept. 6, 2004 murder of Jamal Segars outside the Detroit City Airport, a crime he did not commit.
Despite Judge Thomas Hathaway’s definitive ruling, a Michigan Court of Appeals panel ruled in favor of WC Prosecutor Kym Worthy, claiming Judge Hathaway “abused his discretion” as a trial Judge in dismissing charges with prejudice on a Brady claim.
An earlier COA ruling overturning Searcy’s conviction said Searcy’s trial judge Timothy Kenny abused HIS discretion, by ignoring Vincent Smothers’ two days of detailed testimony that HE murdered Segars.
The COA also said that AP Patrick Muscat withheld evidence of a .40 caliber bullet from Smothers’ gun that was found in the victim’s body, in order to comport with the prosecution’s theory that the murder weapons, presented in court, was a .45 caliber gun.
.
Now Worthy has decided to RE-TRY Searcy. He was placed on a tether again after his last pre-trial hearing, despite his clean record since Judge Thomas Hathaway first took him off a tether in 2021 before dismissing all charges. Now, ironically, he returns for another pre-trial hearing in front of Judge Thomas Hathaway’s nephew by marriage, Judge Nicholas Hathaway, who is married to Judge Dana Hathaway.
VOD notes that at least 30 cases have been remanded by Michigan appellate courts to 3rd Circuit Court trial courts, citing violations of Brady v. Maryland and MCR 6.508(G)(2). They say such courts, among other matters, wrongly conflated Brady with a Michigan court ruling in People v Cress, 468 Mich 678 (2003), saying a state court ruling cannot restrict Brady. See http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/30-CASES-REMANDED-BY-APPELLATE-COURTS.pdf.
NM JUDGE DISMISSES CASE V. ALEC BALDWIN ON BRADYVIOLATIONS
Alec Baldwin case dismissed with prejudice.
Across the country, in July, 2024, New Mexico First District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed WITH PREJUDICE a manslaughter charge against actor Alec Baldwin brought after he shot and killed a movie crew member with a prop gun that turned out to be loaded. She said the prosecution blatantly suppressed ballistics evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, as happened in Searcy’s case.
Her ruling (above) defines how and why a case based on violations of Brady v. Maryland can be dismissed with prejudice. She cites both federal and state. Local legal analysts from Michigan have said her ruling holds weight in Michigan as well, coming from a sister court that also cites Brady v. Maryland.
Last month, the New Mexico prosecutor in the case decided to withdraw her appeal of Judge Summer’s ruling, unlike Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy in Searcy’s case.
VOICE OF DETROIT is a pro bono newspaper, which now devotes itself solely to stories about those who are suffering in 0ur PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.
Our advocacy for those who have lost their lives to the weapons of law enforcement or their confinement to death in prison, is recognized nationally as outstanding.
Our extensive expenses include a $465 quarterly web hosting charge, a P.O. Box, internet fees, office supplies, and court costs, are paid for on a fixed income and donations for our supporters, including the loved ones of those who stories we publish.
VOICE OF DETROIT is a pro bono newspaper, which now devotes itself solely to stories about those who are suffering in 0ur PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.
Our advocacy for those who have lost their lives to the weapons of law enforcement or their confinement to death in prison, is recognized nationally as outstanding.
As we publish each story, we are contacted by more prisoners and their supporters who need public exposure of their plight. In 2025, VOD’s editor has hoped to meet the demand full-time, without returning to a part-time job in March to finance VOD, which limits her time. Our extensive expenses include a $465 quarterly web hosting charge, a P.O. Box, internet fees, office supplies, and court costs, are paid for on a fixed income and donations for our supporters, including the loved ones of those who stories we publish.
GAYELON SPENCER, JR. (circled in red) IS “BUM RUSHED” BY LARGE GROUP OF PARTY-GOERS INCLUDING ARIEL HARRIS AT CLUB EVENT BEFORE SHOOTING.
ARIEL HARRIS (circled in red) WITH CREW (l) ON TIKTOK; HARRIS’ MOTHER ROSALIND HEARST ON FACEBOOK, ALL BRANDISHING ARSENAL OF WEAPONS
Gayelon Spencer, Jr. scheduled for sentencing on 2nd degree murder conviction Thurs. Dec. 19, 2024 at 1 pm in chaotic club scene shooting at the International Center in Greektown Nov. 2o22; conviction Sept. 26, 2024
Motion hearing scheduled at 1 pm prior to sentencing; Spencer asking for new trial due to Detroit cops’ destruction of 2 witnesses’ original statements, violating Brady v. Maryland, Arizona v. Youngblood, other USSC rulings
Mainstream media coverage of shooting was drastically one-sided; included only victim’s family; no interviews of accused or his attorneys
Spencer, acting pro se, filed his motions for a new trial and evidentiary hearing under highly restrictive conditions at Wayne Co. Justice Center Jail
By Diane Bukowski
December 17, 2024
GAYELON SPENCER, JR. (Family photo)
DETROIT– Gayelon Spencer, Jr. is fighting for his life, facing sentencing in front of Wayne 3rd Circuit Court Judge Paul J. Cusick December 19 at 1 pm. on charges of second-degree murder; weapons, carrying concealed; firearm possession by felon; and weapon felony firearm, second offense.
Representing himself, Spencer is expected to argue his motions for a new trial and evidentiary hearing prior to the sentencing at 1 p.m. They allege Detroit police destroyed records of the initial statements given to them by two trial witnesses about the chaotic scene at the International Banquet Center, including one who said that Spencer was attacked by others before the shooting.
“Mr. Spencer’s trial counsel requested disclosure of each oral statement and copy of each written or recorded statement made by witnesses,” Spencer says in his motions. “The State’s Attorney failed to furnish the defense counsel and Mr. Spencer with both Allante Mosley’s and Kreanna Mapp’s audio or video recorded statement, contrary to MCR 6.201(2).”
Gayelon Spencer
Spencer says Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Krystal Murphy “admitted to this Just Court that law enforcement destroyed the video and and audio recorded statements” of the two witnesses, who testified at trial against Spencer.
“I have knowledge that the audio and video recorded statements contained exculpatory evidence, as well as impeachment evidence, due to the fact that Detective Yousseif Berro wrote non-verbatim statements of the statements given by both Allante Mosley and Kreanna Mapp . . .[Mosley] stated that I was asked to take another elevator and when I refused, a commotion started and I was pushed and stumbled toward him where I was pushed again.”
Spencer notes that his trial attorney failed to object to the use of Mosley and Mapp as witnesses at trial, despite the prosecution’s failure to provide their original statements to the police to the defense. He eventually discharged that attorney and opted to represent himself.
Gayelon Spencer on Linked-In network.
Spencer, now 36, graduated from Fannie Richards and Hannaman Elementary Schools, The Academy of Arts and Science, Mackenzie High School, and East Catholic High School. He worked as a Police Cadet at age 14, at the General Motors Building Lakeside, got his truck driving license and drove for GFL Waste Management, and served in the U.S. Army. He founded his two LLC’s, 1600inc and 1600ent, and is the author of a book.
The story was covered across the country, using sensational headlines like, “Detroit man gunned down for holding an elevator for a group of women.” The media interviewed only members of Harris’ grieving family. They made no attempt to portray the entire situation shown in the photo above, or in multiple videos of the confrontation.
Local stations used only photos of Gayelon Spencer Jr. shown exiting the elevator, provided by the Detroit Police Department, and parroted the DPD version of events. This has become the media’s normal practice, in violation of journalistic ethics. It is highly likely that members of Spencer’s jury had seen that coverage,
Wayne County Criminal Justice Center
VOD has reviewed extensive surveillance videos from the scene. They show no evidence that Spencer was trying to keep women from entering the elevator in question. They mainly show that he was “bum rushed” by a group of hostile men, as another man who has seen the videos termed their actions. Unfortunately, Ariel Harris lost his life, and Spencer now faces a sentence of virtual death in prison.
Spencer has been incarcerated since 2022 in both Wayne County jails, at the Frank Murphy complex in downtown Detroit, and now at the new “Detroit Justice Center,” where conditions have been likened to those at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. He has told VOD that mail delivery is frequently non-existent and that he has trouble getting copies of his handwritten motions from jail staff. Fortunately, his motions got through to Voice of Detroit. They are linked in full below.
URGENT. Funds needed for quarterly web hosting charge of $465.00 by Dec. 19, 2024 or VOD and 13 years of its stories will be taken off the web. VOD is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.
VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. In addition to quarterly web hosting charge. other expenses include P.O. box fee of $226.00/yr., costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.
Passed December 1, in sister’s home in the arms of family including children, grandchildren; paroled after 37 yrs., relatives fought MDOC to get him home
Willie Merriweather
Merriweather saved five young co-defendants from prison in 1987, refused to sign statements, testify vs. them despite vicious beatings by corrupt cops
“Merriweather refused to lie and send us to prison . . ..he stated to us that we didn’t have a chance in the world at a fair trial.” — Mark McCloud
By Diane Bukowski
Editorial
December 11, 2024
Alsham Haleem (l) calls for freedom for Willie Merriweather June 4, 2021.
DETROIT — I initially heard of Willie Merriweather from the third speaker at a historic rally of hundreds against wrongful convictions June 4, 2021 outside the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in downtown Detroit June 4, 2021. (Watch video above starting at 1:33 mark).
The rally, which took over the surrounding streets, was called by “Operation Liberation,” founded by Thelonious Searcy and Darrell Ewing, both of them wrongfully convicted, and their families.
Over the next years, I put together a comprehensive story using Mr. Merriweather’s well-written letters and additional research showing that the cops responsible for his false conviction had played major roles in other wrongful convictions, including those of Dwight Love and Danny Burton.
That story was read around the country. Mr. Merriweather heard from supporters as far away as California. giving him hope and recognition.
The first story and a follow-up about Mr. Merriweather’s parole hearing are linked below. I spoke with Mr. Merriweather dozens of times in calls from prison, and became very fond of him. I knew he was battling cancer and other ailments as he fought for his freedom, but he never gave up.
I spoke for hours with Mr. Merriweather’s sister Patricia Merriweather Dec. 9. She told me her brother was finally paroled, despite constant obstacles put up by the Michigan Dept. of Corrections. His family fought tooth and nail to get him home with them and succeeded. VOD’s legal analyst Travis Herndon, who spent decades in prison himself, told Ms. Merriweather she was a hero as well, because it is the worst fear of every prisoner that they will die there.
WILLIE ALLEN MERRIWEATHER, JR. LIVES FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS!
URGENT. Funds needed for quarterly web hosting charge of $465 due Dec. 4, 2024. VOD is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.
VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. In addition to quarterly web hosting charge. other expenses include P.O. box fee of $226.00/yr., costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.
DPD’s Ernest Wils0n, Edward Williams beat, coerced false statements from brothers which implicated each other in 2004 Canton St. drug house murders
Hubbard brothers gave vivid testimony at ‘Walker’ hearing, denied making any statements against each other
Wilson engineered multiple wrongful convictions including that of Mubarez Ahmed, who won $9.9M in federal lawsuit
Williams beat, murdered DPD officer wife Patricia and himself in 2009
Chief prosecution witness Tony Johnson arrested as he fled crime scene, tested positive for GSR on hands, face, shirt; DPD’s Moises Jimenez, (Ansari, Littleton convictions) concocted statement
Pros. witness Constance Davenport, only woman survivor at crime scene. said she got there during gunfire, but neighbor saw a woman with 2 men fleeing at the same time
DPD’s Olie McMillion Jr., (arrested Idolthus Hubbard, saw Alton Hubbard beating, took witness statements); in 2017, locker of 2003-09 homicide files and physical evidence found at his home during eviction.)
DPD’s JoAnn Kinney (framed Carl Hubbard and others using threats, coercion) assisted CIO Ernest Wilson throughout case
DPD Crime Lab techs Kevin Reed (triggered 2008 Lab closure), David Pauch (falsified ballistics evidence in Searcy. Desmond Ricks cases), wrongly ID’d bullets in victims
By Diane Bukowski
December 1, 2024 (updated Dec. 6 and 12, 2024)
Dennis Atkins
VOD has just discovered another exoneree’s case in which criminal cop Ernest Wilson was involved, that of Dennis Atkins. Wilson testified he could not find a key witness who said her boyfriend told her that he and another man, not Atkins, killed the victim. Atkins was convicted in 2006, exonerated in 2022. (See link to VOD story on that case at top of related stories below.)
DETROIT — Alton and Idolthus Hubbard have been incarcerated for 20 years for a triple homicide in a drug house at 4139 Canton in Detroit on Aug. 18, 2004. The victims were Annie Rivers, Jerome Edmonds, and Frank Olson. But there is substantial evidence that the Hubbard brothers were wrongly convicted.
A roster of Detroit cops who triggered other wrongful convictions handled their case. Sgt. Ernest Wilson, involved in at least 10 other cases of wrongful conviction and/or police misconduct, including that of Mubarez Ahmed, who won $9.95 million in an arbitrated settlement, was the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Canton St. case.
The brothers say he tag-teamed with Sgt. Edward Williams, brutally beating and tricking them to get false confessions implicating each other in the crimes.
“Officer [Edward] Williams began telling me my brother had made a statement on me, telling me that everything was being blamed on me, and that I had killed the people,” Alton Hubbard testified during a March, 2005 Walker evidentiary hearing held on a motion to suppress their statements.
Alton Hubbard said Williams beat him to his knees with his fist and choked him in a room outside the DPD 7th precinct garage with no surveillance cameras. (Williams killed his wife, DPD officer Patricia Williams, then himself, five years later in 2009, as she was going to the Canton Police station to report he had assaulted her.)
Hubbard said Ernest Wilson then wrote out a confession saying he and Idolthus Hubbard committed the murders, and ordered him to sign it.
ALTON HUBBARD
“I got upset because he kept trying to tell me my brother was telling on me and telling them that I had killed the people,” Hubbard testified. “I was just mad, saying some harsh words to him and he got frustrated. That’s when he hit me. . . . I kind of just leaned on the wall because he had hit me in my chest area. And then I bounced back, and that’s when he hit me again in my chest area. I can’t tell you how many times I was hit.”
Idolthus Hubbard testified that he asked for a lawyer four times as Williams interrogated him. He said Williams wrote a statement and told him to sign it. He testified that he could read only at a 4th grade level, and that no one let him see his alleged statements or read them to him..
IDOLTHUS HUBBARD, SISTER ACACIA HOWARD.
“I never said Alton Hubbard did anything,” he testified. “That’s why I signed the statement because I thought he [Williams] wrote it down word for word . . . I was never asked any of them questions because I would have said no because when they arrested me, he choked me, and I was pushed on the back of the car.”
He said he did not find out what the statement said until Williams read it on the stand during the preliminary examination in 36th District Court.
Williams asked him if his nickname was “Gage,” a term used by a confidential informant and then inserted into written statements and testimony from key prosecution witnesses. Hubbard said he was known as “Flay,” and had never heard the name Gage. His sister Acacia Howard confirmed that in her DPD witness statement and testimony. None of the statements from defendants and witnesses taken by DPD officers were videotaped or audiotaped, a required practice now.
Alton was not arrested for the murders until five days later, on August 23, 2004, when he went to the Ninth Precinct to ask why his brother Idolthus and sister Acacia [Arkasha] had been arrested. Wilson and Williams arrested him when he returned home.
In a Memorandum submitted to the Wayne Co. Conviction Integrity Unit, Alton Hubbard’s current attorney Parisa Sadrnia reviewed all pre-trial and trial transcripts and said he has a case of actual innocence, along with newly-discovered evidence about DPD’s Ernest Wilson’s history of misconduct in at least 10 civil cases, including those of exonerees Mubarez Ahmed, Marvin Cotton and Anthony Legion.
Atty. Parisa Sadrnia
“Mr. Alton Hubbard presents a claim of actual innocence and maintains he was never present at the house on Canton on August 18, 2004,” Atty. Sadrnia wrote. She cited the testimony at trial of Genevia Powell, a friend of the brothers’ mother Delores, who was celebrating her birthday that weekend.
“On August 18, 2004, from 6:00 pm through the evening until the next day, she was in the company of Alton,” said Atty. Sadrnia. “She saw Alton on August 18, 2004, when she arrived at his mother’s house between 6 and 7 PM. She heard there was going to be a gathering for Alton’s mother’s birthday. Alton was there when she got there.
“She stayed there until 10, 10:30, and Alton was still there at that time. When she left, she went to Alton’s sister’s house. She and Alton drove together to her house on Iroquois. They went over there to watch her children.”
Five days before Alton’s arrest, on Aug. 18, police arrested the first suspect, Tony Johnson, when they saw him fleeing the house after the killings. Gunshot residue tests on the webs of his hands, face and shirt were positive.
Officers were skeptical of Johnson’s statement to them that he hid in the basement of the drug house during the murders. They said they found the basement door locked and nailed shut from the outside on their arrival.
In a Preliminary Complaint Report (PCR) approved by Ernest Wilson, officers reported Johnson’s arrest as a “possible suspect.”
Johnson and Constance Davenport. also a witness for the prosecution, could not identify the brothers in line-ups shortly after the murders, but Wilson and Williams lied to the the brothers that they had been identified.
Ernest Wilson interviewed Davenport after the line-up and had her sign a statement reversing her first identification. identifying photo #4 (Idolthus Hubbard).
Wilson’s coercion of a witness in the Mubarez Ahmed case, during which he showed her a photo of Ahmed and told her he was the killer, cost the City of Detroit $9.9 Million in an arbitrated settlement.
Davenport was the only surviving female seen in the house. She said in a DPD witness statement that she entered the house during the gunfire, and hid lying down behind a front room loveseat. She said she saw the shooters from there, clearly enough to describe and identify them as they went from the room to room.
Chloe Colts, who lived next door to 4139 Hubbard, said in a DPD statement that she saw two men and a woman exit the house and walk over the body of a victim on the sidewalk, directly after she heard gunshots. She told police she could identify them in line-ups. But the homicide file has no indication Colts ever participated in photo or in-person line-ups, and is not listed on the prosecution witness list.
Davenport and another woman went to the police station the next day to report that they knew the identity and address of “Gage” who they said was one of the killers.
But DPD officer Sgt. Griggs reported that a woman called the station with a tip about another likely suspect, heard bragging about the killings the day afterwards, named Kenny Palmore.
Police did investigate Palmore’s extensive criminal record according to the file. But there the trail goes cold. There is no record of an arrest or interrogation of Palmore.
Attorneys for the two brothers have asked the Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit to review the convictions, and submitted lengthy overviews of the cases to them.
Atty. Sadrnia reviewed the Homicide File as well. She noted, “The DPD file does not demonstrate there were any attempts to obtain DNA evidence from Mr. Hubbard, his brother, or Mr. Jones. Fingerprints are not located in the home or on any of the evidence in the home. The purported shotgun or 38 revolvers were not recovered . . .The 9 mm that was recovered did not match with the bullets retrieved from Rivers or Olson.”
She concluded, “In sum, there are more than sufficient questions raised regarding the available evidence, identification of inconsistent testimony, identification of material witnesses/law enforcement agents with known records of police misconduct, and Brady violations from law enforcement, to warrant this matter being accepted by the Conviction Integrity Unit. Mr. Alton Hubbard presents a claim of actual innocence and maintains he was never present at the house on Canton on August 18, 2004.”
(Note: Idolthus Hubbard did testify to contents of false statement at trial, under defense attorney strategy of blaming co-defendant. The brothers had separate juries. A third co-defendant, Johnnie Jones (brother-in-law of the Hubbards) was charged with assault with intent to commit great bodily harm, served 7 years, killed in car crash.)
Acacia Howard
The Hubbard brothers’ older sister Acacia Howard (referred to as ‘Arkasha’ in DPD files) and VOD editor Diane Bukowski spoke about the Hubbards’ case at the Survivors’ Speak Wrongful Conviction Summit November 18, 2024, preceded by Gloria Jackson, the mother of two other br0thers, Dennis and Dameko Vesey, and from Washtenaw County who have been wrongfully convicted. The auditorium at U of M in Ann Arbor was packed with hundreds of U of M students dedicated to obtaining justice for the unjustly incarcerated.
Delores Hubbard
Howard said her mother, Delores Hubbard, who was celebrating her birthday the week-end of the murders, never to see her sons outside of prison again, died in 2021. Since then, she said, she has felt almost overwhelmed taking on her mother’s role and advocating for her brothers. She told the audience that she was so happy to connect with them and get their support for her brothers. Among others, she met with Demetris Knuckles-El of Michigan Liberation, a former prisoner who grew up with the entire family.
Presentations from Howard and Bukowski begin at 21:22 in the video below. For other coverage of the forum, The Survivors Speak Facebook Page is at:
Misconduct of OIC Sgt. Wilson – Failure to disclose Brady impeachment evidence about himself being named as a defendant in multiple civil cases for police misconduct to prosecution and/or the defense at the time of trial for police misconduct.Cases before and after Alton’s trial:
Edna Anderson v City of Detroit, et al Case No. 2:91-cv-75329-LPZ .
James R. Powe v City of Detroit, et al Case No. 2:92-cv-76976-AC,
Michael Varner and Carey Right v City of Detroit, et al Case No. 2:99-cv-73704-DPH
Ronald Richardson, et al v City of Detroit, et al .Case No. 01-71428
Nathaneal Taylor v City of Detroit, et al Case No. 2:03-cv-73595-PDB
Desmond Robinson v City of Detroit, et al Case No. 2:04-cv-73203
Sidney Rhone v City of Detroit, et al Case No. 4:13-cv-13400-TGB-DRG
Mubarez Ahmed v City of Detroit, et al Case No. 2:18-cv-13849-GCS-EAS
In People v Mubarez Ahmed, Wayne County Circuit Court Case No. 2001-003529-01-FC, Ahmed was recently exonerated after serving18 years in prison when it was discovered Sgt. Wilson lied on the witness stand and fabricated evidence
Tiani Dodson v City of Detroit, et al Case No. 2:20-cv-12056-GAD-APP
Cotton and Legion v Hughes, Bats, Wilson, and Adams 1.Case No.22-cv-1003 _______________________________________________________
RELATED STORIES:
Added December 12, including information on DPD Officer Ernest Wilson’s role in the wrongful conviction of Dennis Atkins
URGENT. Funds needed for quarterly web hosting charge of $465 due Dec. 4, 2024. VOD is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.
VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. In addition to quarterly web hosting charge. other expenses include P.O. box fee of $226.00/yr., costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.
Michigan Court of Appeals remands lifer Ray’s case to the trial court a third time, orders judge to have evidentiary hearing including testimony about another suspect who was likely the real killer, retains strict jurisdiction
Atty. Tiffany .P. Howell argues Roger Carlos Ray case before the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Atty. Tiffany P. Howell argued case strongly at COA, stressing multiple violations of Brady v. Maryland by DPD, which hid evidence in “miscellaneous file.”
“It just boggles my mind that you’re even contesting this. . .The police have no right whatsoever to do what they did in this case, and that fact alone for me is sufficient to let this guy out of prison”–Michigan COA Judge Stephen Borrello, Aug. 7, 2024
Newly exonerated Lavone Hill speaks out for Ray’s release and that of hundreds more wrongfully convicted individuals
DETROIT — “The courts are dealing with my case, which involves actual innocence, but it seems they are more concerned with being exposed,” Roger Carlos Ray told VOD in a phone call today.
“Others in here like me are dealing with the same thing that I’m going through–I can name them. I’ve lost my mother and father, everybody in my family, I’ve had COVID six times, and been rushed to the hospital with a failing heart.”
Ray was arrested and convicted in 1993 for the gruesome murder of apartment manager John Holmes, who had been robbed, shot to death, and stuffed in the incinerator of the Westville Apts. at 6017 Grand River, Detroit, on Easter Sunday, April 18, 1987.
Ray won a Court of Appeals (COA) ruling Oct. 3, remanding his case back to the trial court for a third time after it failed to fully comply with earlier rulings.
This time the COA mandated an evidentiary hearing involving another suspect in the case, Edmond Justice Wright, who may have committed the murder for which Ray has been in prison 31 years. The full COA ruling gives a comprehensive run-down of events in the case, many of them mentioned in VOD’s earlier article on the Ray case. Complete ruling is at: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Roger-Carlos-Ray-COA-10-3-24.pdf.
P. I. Scott Lewis
Wright, originally a police suspect in the crime, became the prosecution’s chief witness against Ray at trial in 1993. It was not disclosed to the jury that Wright pled guilty to attempted first-degree criminal sexual conduct (rape) in 1989, and was serving a five-year term of probation f0r the crime when he testified against Ray.
There was no weapon or bullet evidence tying Ray to the murder, although a DPD report shows that one bullet and another fragment were extracted from Holmes’ head. The prosecution’s entire case against Ray for the murder of Holmes hinged on what Wright told homicide investigators in three separate statements.
Westville Apts. on Grand River where murder took place.
Wright did not name Ray until the third statement. In that statement, he claimed to have seen Ray covered with blood in the apartment where they both stayed, which was also blood-soaked, on Easter Sunday April 19, 1987. He claimed Ray told him he had shot Wright in the head and taken his safe full of money. Wright’s testimony regarding the written statements at trial was very vague and contradictory.
Police and prosecutors also concealed a multitude of other evidence pointing to Wright in a “miscellaneous file” found by private investigator Scott Lewis in 2018. That file included handwritten police notes from the earlier 1987 “miscellaneous” file: 1) A Michigan identification card for Edmond Wright, found wedged between the coach cushions in Holmes’ living room. Wright claimed he had not been in Holmes’ apartment for several months, and 2) A note about a “Mr. Mitchell” with information about the crime, who had left his phone number for police to call back, which they never did. Lewis found “Mr. Mitchell,” interviewed him and obtained a sworn affidavit from him.
Roger Carlos Ray with daughters Carla Mason (l) and Rashawn Ray at 3 yrs. old (r).
Ray said he is well versed in the law now, having studied it in prison libraries, and has drafted many of his pleadings himself. He said he just had a video visit with his daughter Rashawn Ray and is rebuilding family ties with his children now.
Rashawn Ray told VOD about her father, “I was three years old when my father went to prison. We talk often. He’s a great dad and grandpa. I can only imagine how things would have been if he had been here. He knows all my kids–I have four, 14, 11, 8 and 4, and he calls and checks on them, asking about their grades and everything.”
Her sister Carla Mason, who has two daughters, said, “He has a heck of a family waiting for him. When we listened to the oral arguments August 7, we both just called each other crying.” (Oral arguments in video below.)
Lavone Hill on his release
Lavone Hill, just released due to his wrongful conviction after 22 years, became a close friend of Ray’s in prison, according to both men. Ray calls Hill a “freedom fighter.” Hill said Ray was the first prisoner to reach out to him.
“He’s a real good guy, clean cut, very spiritual,” Hill told VOD. “We’ve had to fight for our lives, I’m talking about innocent men being in prison.
“He was one of the first guys I met in prison. He told me if you want to get out of prison, you’ve got to get in the law library and fight for yourself. You go to trial on any charge, you’re gonna get cooked. Hundreds and hundreds of guys that are in prison are innocent, but we are treated like nothing but numbers, not human beings.”
Oral arguments on Ray’s appeal were held Aug. 7, 2024 in front of Michigan Court of Appeals Judges Christopher Murray, Stephen Borrello and Philip Miriani, with attorney Tiffany P. Howell representing the defense. Howell stressed multiple violations by Detroit Police of Ray’s disclosure rights under Brady v. Maryland, leading Judge Borrello to tell the prosecution, “It just boggles my mind you’re even contesting this.”
See complete oral arguments on Ray’s case from 18:40 to 45:16 below
The Court of Appeals issued its ruling on October 3, 2024, following a previous ruling in 2020 that sent the case back to the trial court t0 assess new evidence because it was not barred by court rules as the trial court had said. That order said the court MAY hold an evidentiary hearing, but the Oct. 3 order says it MUST hold one.
“We agree in part, vacate the order denying defendant’s motion, and remand to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing on whether the newly discovered evidence satisfies the fourth prong under People v Cress, 468 Mich 678, 692; 664 NW2d 174 (2003), and/or constitutes material evidence under Brady v Maryland, 373 US 83; 83 S Ct 1194; 10 L Ed 2d 215 (1963). We retain jurisdiction.”
Not only did the Court of Appeals overturn Third Circuit Court Judge Miriam Saad Bazzi’s Nov. 17, 2022 denial of Ray’s third motion for relief, but Presiding Judge Christopher Murray issued a separate order ensuring that the COA panel retains jurisdiction It reiterates that the COA has ordered an evidentiary hearing, after which the COA panel itself is to receive and review the trial court’s ruling in order to address any remaining issues.
“Any challenges to the trial court’s rulings on remand must be raised in this appeal,” Judge Murray wrote. “The Clerk of the Court is directed to reject the initiation of a new appeal from such an order.”
VOD has previously noted that some Third Circuit Judges have been ignoring repeated remands from higher courts, denying relief again, with defense attorneys forced to initiate brand new appeals. VOD’s legal advisor has identified 30 appellate rulings that have been repeatedly sent back to the trial courts because of repeated non-compliance.
For list of 30 cases remanded by Appellate Courts to Third Judicial Circuit Court, see:
Family and friends of Michael DeGraffenried turned out in force for the continuation of his evidentiary hearing in front of Judge Tracy Green Oct. 8, 2024; his mother (at corner next to man in black/white T-shirt) flew in from Texas. DeGraffenried’s son Semaje Manning is at her right. Others told VOD they came from out-of-state and many said they grew up in Inkster with Degraffenried.
“MICHAEL DEGRAFFENRIED WAS NOT THE PERSON WHO SHOT ME”– Willie Wimberly, seriously injured, was never called to testify at trial
“I’ve been fighting my case since the day I was arrested” –Degraffenried testifies re: co-defendant’s accusation that Inkster cop Darian K. Williams Walker coerced false statement from her
Inkster Police OIC Sgt. Darian K. Williams was convicted of extorting money from drug dealers at time of Degraffenried trial, sentenced to prison
Atty. Tiffany Howell asks Judge Tracy Green to order that their Inkster PD personnel files be provided to defense under Brady v. Maryland
Judge Green to rule on relief for DeGraffenried Mon. Nov. 11, 2024
By Diane Bukowski
October 21, 2024
Atty. Tiffany Howell (l) presents the case of Michael Degraffenried (seated) Oct. 8, 2024.
DETROIT — “Michael DeGraffenried was not the person who shot me,” Willie Wimberly testified firmly at the long-delayed second half of an evidentiary hearing in front of Third Circuit Court Judge Tracy Green Oct. 8.
DeGraffenried is serving a term of 30-50 years for a drive-by shooting June 15, 1999 on Florence St. in Inkster. The shooter seriously injured Wimberley and killed Alondre Davis.
“”[Inkster police officers] Darian Williams and Gregory Hill came to my house, showed me photos, and Greg Hill mentioned Michael DeGraffenried’s name to me,” Wimberley said. “I told them no he was not the person who shot me. I did not identify him at the preliminary exam, and I was never interviewed by his attorney or the prosecutor or subpoenaed to testify at the trial. I was 16 back in 1999 and was traumatized by the shooting.”
Willie Wimberley testifies on behalf of Michael DeGraffenried Oct. 8, 2024.
Wimberley said he knew DeGraffenried because he lived down the street from him. He said he saw the face of the shooter as he dove off his bicycle but could not identify him. He said the bullet that hit him traveled up his leg to his pelvis and is still lodged there, causing continued problems. He said doctors told him he could have died if the bullet had gone any further.
Wimberley also testified that his cousin Broderick Ward told him that he had ID’d Degraffenried as the shooter during during court proceedings, but Wimberley said Ward was not present during the shooting. He also said Degraffenried was not there.
Defense Attorney Tiffany P. Howell requested that Judge Green order the production of Inkster Police personnel files on Williams and Anthony Abdallah under disclosure rules mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Brady v. Maryland. Judge Green said she will rule on the matter at a hearing Nov. 11.
Inkster exonerees George Clark (l) and Kevin Harrington (r), with exoneree Alphonso Clark.
Vicki Yost, previously Inkster Police Chief and now a private investigator, testified Inkster detective Anthony Abdallah was involved in the cases of exonerees George Clark and Kevin Harrington. She said she discovered Officer Williams was charged and convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion in federal court in Chicago in December, 2001.
In fact, as VOD reported previously, Williams’ conviction involved extorting money from drug dealers from May, 1999 through December, 2001, before the drive-by shooting in June, 1999, and continuing through Degraffenried’s trial in December, 2000.
“At trial, the Government presented evidence that from May 1999 through December 3, 2001, Steele conspired with co-conspirators Darian Williams, Ernest “Newt” Butler, and Andre Patterson to extort money from drug dealers through wrongful use of fear and under color of official right, U.S. District Court Judge Am7. .At the time of the conspiracy, Williams was employed by the Police Department of Inkster, Michigan and held the rank of Detective Sergeant.” See: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Daryl-Steele-et-al-inc-Darian-Williams-US-District-Court-opinion-and-order.pdf
Tiya Manning is the mother of Degraffenried’s son Semaje Manning, who was present at the hearing Oct. 8.
Originally a co-defendant in the case, she testified in Dec. 1999 at a “Walker” hearing that Sgt. Damian Williams’ threatened and coerced her into falsely identifying Michael DeGraffenried as the shooter, Atty. Howell said.
Manning said Williams told her to alter her first statement to Sgt. Gregory Hill, which she said was the truth, to another version implicating herself and DeGraffenried. She said the second statement was a lie. (
Atty. Howell then called Degraffenried himself to the stand.
Judge Tracy Green
“I been fighting my case since the day I got arrested,” Degraffenried said. “I was arrested thirty minutes after the shooting, I saw my girl friend’s car on a tow truck and stopped to check on her. But before I could make it halfway up the street—the police saw me, and arrested me. At time of shooting, I was was escorting my grandmother to the Inkster police station because my little cousin was arrested.”
He said he went inside the police station momentarily as he walked his grandmother in, and talked to an officer there at the front desk, in full view of monitoring cameras. He said he asked his lawyer Samuel Yura obtain the video from inside the station to verify his alibi, but that Yura never produced
Michael Degraffenried testifies Oct; 8, 2024
Degraffenried’s motion cites “ineffective assistance of counsel” as one ground for relief.
“I spoke to Yura twice, once when I was first arrested, and once while I was in the county jail,” DeGraffenried said. “The first time he was just coming in, the next time I spoke with him was maybe a week or two before trial.”
He said Yura never interviewed the numerous people who witnessed the drive-by shooting, including Wimberley, and never subpoenaed Wimberley.
“I asked him to interview Wimberley, I wanted everybody at the scene to be interviewed, but he never did,” Degraffenried said. “I asked him to talk to them, take photos of the house. If it was a trial prep it had nothing to do with me.”
Defense Atty. Tiffany Howell
Atty. Howell asked, “Were you aware that Tia Manning had a Walker hearing, where she accused Damian Williams of harassment, and went int0 detail. Were you aware she accused the shooter of being Ramone Williams?” Degraffenried said not until years later.
Records show that Tia Manning and Ramone Williams never testified at trial, but had their preliminary exam testimony read into the record.
Degraffenried said he witnessed Inkster Sgt. Gregory Hill examining Manning’s car in the police station, apparently conducting a gunshot residue test, but that his defense never got the results of the test
He said he did not know about Manning’s Walker hearing or Wimberley’s final account of the shooting until years after he had already filed post-conviction appeals. He said that he discovered Manning’s Walker hearing testimony when he was doing research in the prison law library, and that he hired private investigator Scott Lewis to interview Wimberley, not knowing what Wimberley would say.Asked him to interview—he didn’t testify at my trial, I was charged with shooting him.
Atty. Howell concluded by asking Wimberley, “Were you the shooter June 15, 1999?” he replied, “No I was not.”
URGENT. Funds needed for quarterly web hosting charge of $465.00 and other expenses. VOD is a pro bono bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.
VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. In addition to quarterly web hosting charge. other expenses include P.O. box fee of $226.00/yr., costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.
(Carl Hubbard talks about his wrongful conviction: start at 40 minute mark.)
Detroit Metro Times reported Sept. 27, “Illegal document purge in Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office blocks freedom for the wrongfully convicted.”
MT wrongly blames document purge for false convictions, absolving WCPO, Detroit Police and Judges of blame for deliberate frame-ups of thousands in the MDOC, and refusal to grant their appeals at all levels
VOD first reported the document purge June 15, 2011 in its article, “DPD, MSP, and Worthy Guilty in Crime Lab Cases, Says People’s Task Force.”
Carl Hubbard was framed-up by DPD Sgt. JoAnn Kinney; prosecution’s sole witness recanted previous ID to testify truthfully, was arrested for perjury in front of Judge Richard Hathaway; both went on to work for Kym Worthy
Hubbard fought case all the way to 6th Circuit, where Senior Judge R. Guy Cole called him “actually innocent” in profound 44-page dissent
KYM WORTHY CAN VACATE FALSE CHARGES V. CARL HUBBARD NOW!
Cook Co. Pros. Foxx
Cooks County prosecutor Kim Foxx dropped charges against Alexander Villa Oct. 2, after dropping them last year against two co-defendants, in the killing of Chicago police Officer Clifton Lewis. The prosecution concealed evidence that none of the three were at the scene of the crime. If Wayne Co. Prosecutor Kym Worthy has a conscience, she can and must do the same for Carl Hubbard now! He was not at the scene of the crime! He is actually innocent, according to 6th Circuit Court Senior Judge R. Guy Cole.
Composite photo of Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Wayne Co. Prosecutor Kym Worthy from Metro Times article.
EDITORIAL
By Diane Bukowski
September 30, 2024
DETROIT — The Detroit Metro Times reported Sept. 27, “Illegal document purge in Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office blocks freedom for the wrongfully convicted.”
“Wayne County illegally destroyed troves of criminal files allegedly when Mayor Mike Duggan was the elected prosecutor, creating a staggering obstacle for wrongfully convicted inmates seeking to prove their innocence, iMetro Times has learned,” says MT investigative reporter Steve Neavling in the article.
Neavling adds, “The file purge was not previously reported. Metro Times learned about it recently in interviews for an ongoing series about wrongful convictions.”
This article does a profound disservice to prisoners victimized by wrongful convictions, and to their families and supporters. It gives them false hope that finding an undisclosed document will miraculously set them free.
The MT article fails to distinguish between “prosecutor files” kept by the WCPO, court files which are kept separately by the County Clerk as the main repository for the county’s criminal court records (under state laws), and DPD files kept by the Police in varying formats, including homicide files.
VOD reported on the pre-1995 document purge 13 years ago, in 2011. A statement from the WCPO clearly says then that the purge involved the prosecutor files. (See box above), full VOD story linked below.)
In fact, the City of Detroit Law Dept., which handles FOIA’s for DPD records, is releasing over 360 pages of from the homicide file of Carl Hubbard to VOD shortly. Hubbard is a subject of the MT article. VOD has been covering his case for the last three years.
Rally at Michigan Capitol in Lansing 2021
While reporting the bare facts of Hubbard’s conviction correctly, the MT story implies the document purge is the sole problem causing his continued wrongful detention as well as thousands more. It absolves Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, the Detroit Police Department, judges, and the rest of the criminal injustice system of responsibility for committing thousands of human beings to death in prison, knowing their convictions were based on lies, threats, and other criminal actions.
Two of the chief players in Hubbard’s frame-up went to work for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy after they retired. and were there as Hubbard repeatedly appealed his conviction. They know what they did, and so do others in the prosecutor’s office, missing “prosecutor files” or not. They are DPD Sgt. JoAnn Kinney and Judge Richard Hathaway.
Curtis Collins
On the first day of Hubbard’s trial, Curtis Collins, the prosecution’s sole “eyewitness,” recanted his preliminary exam testimony that he saw Hubbard near the crime scene, and told the truth. He said that Sgt. JoAnn Kinney, and officers Richard Ivy, Ronald Gale, and others threatened to have his parole revoked because they found drugs on him, and to charge him with perjury and the murder itself, if he did not implicate Hubbard.
He was promptly arrested after he left the stand, with the complicity of Hubbard’s trial Judge Richard Hathaway, and charged with perjury. Kinney and other officers held him at the DPD lock-up for two days until he returned to the stand and changed his testimony back. Kinney is among many DPD officers from previous decades who have been responsible for wrongful convictions.
Kinney and other DPD officers locked up Thoanchelle Taylor, a mother of two, as a witness to a 1992 murder. They held her until her 12-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son implicated her in the murder. At trial, Judge Kathleen Judge Kathleen McDonald said there was not a “scintilla of evidence” against Taylor.
She added, “If I have ever seen a case where the police have manufactured the facts, this is one. I have never had facts as egregious as this case.”
The Detroit News reported, “Kinney testified that she had Taylor locked up as a witness for days without charges against her and said there was no standard procedure as to how long witnesses could be held without being arrested. Kinney also admitted threatening to take Taylor’s children away if she did not cooperate. . .”
Kinney was also involved in eliciting a confession from a 12-year-old girl to a charge of murder of a child she was babysitting, by promising she could go home if she confessed The confession was thrown out by a juvenile court judge in 1994. Kinney had interrogated her for four hours without the presence of her mother.
Hubbard nearly died from COVID-19 as he fought his conviction pro se from the depths of the prison system, blocked at every step by the prosecution’s refusal to concede the truth.
THE ‘ACTUAL INNOCENCE” OF CARL HUBBARD
Lorinda Swain, exonerated
“If it is not contrary to the law for an actually innocent person to be locked up for a crime she never committed, what value is the law? The word-play of lawyers is mere pettifogging when aimed at keeping innocent people in prison. It is important to maintain perspective in deciding legal issues that strike to the core of justice. As Michigan knows well, even governors may become prisoners, and prisoners governors, and any of the citizens in whose name a sentence is carried out today may be wrongfully accused of a crime tomorrow. J. Rawls, A THEORY OF JUSTICE, 136-42 (1971)”
Intro to Amicus Curiae Brief Of Current And Former Michigan Prosecutors, Michigan v. Lorinda Irene Swain, Mich. Supreme Court No. 15099,
Hubbard twice won pro bono representation on his federal habeas appeal, from two prominent law firms based in Washington, D.C. Alexander Kazam of King & Spalding, LLC was appointed to represent him by the Sixth Circuit.
A three-judge panel, including one appointed by then President Donald Trump, issued a 2-1 split ruling to deny Hubbard relief at the first level.
Gregory Cui of the MacArthur Justice Center appealed to the Sixth Circuit’s full en banc panel. On August 24, however, Hubbard was notified that the petition to the en banc panel was denied, without giving a reason. He is now working on a final pro seappeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Cui told VOD that their appeal was based on Sixth Circuit Senior Judge R. Guy Cole’s profound dissent declaring Hubbard “actually innocent” even without an evidentiary hearing. Below is Sixth Circuit Court Senior Judge R. Guy Cole’s summation of the subsequent history related to Collins (quoting from US District Court Judge David Lawson’s opinion at the District Court level..)
“Tired of Running from the Fact That He Had Put an Innocent man, Carl Hubbard, in prison.”
Carl Hubbard in 2024 OTIS photo
10/31/2017 affidavit of Curtis Collins: Curtis Collins signed an affidavit averring that he was not present anywhere near the Special K Party Store on January 17, 1992. Collins avers that he did not see the petitioner fleeing from where the victim was found shot to death. Collins claims that Sergeant Kinney forced him to testify falsely at the petitioner’s preliminary examination that he saw the petitioner fleeing the murder scene. Collins states he testified truthfully on the first day of trial. He says that he spent two days at the 1300 Precinct [Detroit Police Department Headquarters] where he was threatened by Sergeant Kinney and Sergeant Gale that he would be charged with the victim’s murder if he didn’t implicate the petitioner. Collins also states that as a result of this coercion, he returned on the third day of the petitioner’s trial and falsely implicated him in the victim’s murder.
. . .Collins went to prison in 2014 and 2015 and during the nine months there, realized how difficult prison was. Upon his release from prison, Collins learned that the assistant prosecutor in the petitioner’s case [James Gonzalez] was no longer working and the police on his case were now retired [JoAnn Kinney].Collins said he no longer had to worry about threats from these individuals to prosecute him and was “tired from running from the fact that he had put an innocent man, Carl Hubbard, in prison.”
2/21/2018 polygraph examination of Curtis Collins: Petitioner attached as an exhibit to his second amended petition the results of a polygraph examination performed by Michael Anthony on Curtis Collins on February 21, 2018. Anthony asked the following questions of Collins: 1. Did you see Carl Hubbard shoot that man? Answer: No 2. Did you see Carl Hubbard shoot anyone at Gray and Mack in January of 1992? Answer: No 3. Were you present when Carl Hubbard shot that man? Answer: No. Anthony opined that Collins was being truthful regarding his answers to these questions.
Judge Cole listed numerous other witness affidavits gathered by Hubbard since his conviction, and afterwards explained why each met the standards of case law as valid. They include: 1/2/2008 affidavit of Elton Carter: Collins told him that his September 2, 1992 trial testimony was coerced and that the police threatened to charge him if he did not agree to so testify. Carter avers that Collins told him that he wasn’t at the crime scene.6/25/2009 affidavit of Emanuel Randall: Collins was not near the crime scene on January 17, 1992. . . .Collins was with him and Raymond Williams playing a dice game when the men received a call that someone had been killed. 2/1/2011 affidavit of Askia Hill: Hill avers that he saw Mark Goings shoot the victim on January 17, 1992, but that he never told anyone because he feared for his life. Hill did not know the petitioner but had seen him in the neighborhood. Hill indicates that the petitioner was not the shooter.
Old DPD HQ 1300 Beaubien
5/23/2011 affidavit of Raymond Williams: Williams swears that while being detained at the Detroit Police Homicide Section between August 31 and September 2, 1992, he overheard Collins crying in his nearby cell. When Williams asked Collins what was wrong, Collins indicated that two police officers made him testify falsely against the petitioner at his trial on September 2, 1992. 9/8/2011 affidavit of Roy Burford: Burford avers that he was at the Special K party store on January 17, 1992, where the shooting took place, from 6:00 p.m. until closing and that at one point the store owner called police. Burford states he saw neither Curtis Collins nor the petitioner that night in the store or near it; 7/28/2014 affidavits of Raad and Samir Konja: [Samir] Konja [and brother Raad] indicates that [they were} co-owners of the Special K Party Store on January 17, 2014. Konja states that neither he nor his brothers permitted Collins in the store because of problems they had with him. Konja indicates that he was never spoken to by the police or the prosecutor.
“As I find Hubbard to be “actually innocent” based on the record before us today, an evidentiary hearing is unnecessary,” Judge Cole says. “But I understand that the additional reliable evidence may bring new questions to light. Should one require answers to these questions before resolving his actual innocence inquiry, there is a remedy for that—a remedy Hubbard has repeatedly requested: an evidentiary hearing.”
Voice of Detroit is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE. Funds needed NOW to pay quarterly web hosting fee of $460.00. VOD will disappear from the web if fee not paid.
VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. Ongoing costs include quarterly web charges of $460.00, P.O. box fee of $180/yr. and other costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.
DAN GILBERT’S GUANTANAMO BAY? Detainees in CJC Jail denied contact with lawyers & family, subjected to brutal conditions
On Sept. 10, a ground-breaking protest outside the new Wayne County Criminal Justice Center was held on behalf of Ricky Rimmer and hundreds of victims of criminal frame-ups by Detroit cops and Wayne County prosecutors. (Full video and story coming later this week.) Meanwhile, multiple articles have been published in the mainstream media about dire conditions in the CJC Jail, built by Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock firm for $670 million, mostly from public tax dollars. Demetris Knuckles-El was at the Sept. 10 protest. He and his organizations are now calling on the public to rally at the new Criminal Justice Center Friday, Sept. 20 from 12 noon to 2pm to support our detainees.
Some of more than 60 supporters of Ricky Rimmer who turned out Sept. 10 in front of the new Wayne County Criminal Justice Center at 5301 Russell in Detroit.
‘IT’S TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE INSTEAD OF A DREAM” (excerpt)
By Andrea May Sahouri, Detroit Free Press —“While Wayne County officials tout the new Criminal Justice Center that was six years in the making as “cutting edge” and “state-of-the-art,” union officials and defense attorneys describe last week’s opening as riddled with problems.
Atty. Lillian Diallo
Among the issues include days-long lockdowns of inmates in crowded cells because there haven’t been enough deputies to cover the larger new complex, a union official and defense attorney told the Free Press. That has led to incidents of fighting and inmates breaking fire sprinklers and causing flooding in protest, said Allen Cox, President of the Wayne County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.
“The first day out, it’s fights, flooding and everything. It’s turned into a nightmare instead of a dream,” Cox said last week.
Lillian Diallo, president of the Wayne County Criminal Defense Bar Association, said inmates are protesting conditions inside the new facility by refusing to leave holding areas for their court hearings. Three days ago, Diallo said an inmate reported having to defecate and urinate in a bag because the plumbing inside cells was not working.
Atty. Brian Brown/DN photo
“It’s like “Shawshank Redemption” or something,” Diallo said, referring to the movie.
Diallo and defense attorney Brian Brown said they have been forced to wait hours before meeting with clients because there’s currently only five visiting rooms available in the new complex. In the old jail, there were two to three visiting rooms for detainees to meet with their attorneys on every floor, Brown and Diallo said.
Diallo said she and other attorneys couldn’t enter the building on Wednesday; she said deputies told her it was because of staffing shortages. And on Saturday, Diallo said jail staff never brought her client in for a visit through video call. She said she waited on the call for her client for two hours.
URGENT. Funds needed for quarterly web hosting charge of $465.00 by Sept. 19, 2024 or VOD and 13 years of its stories will be taken off the web. VOD is a pro bono newspaper, now devoting itself entirely to stories related to our PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.
VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. In addition to quarterly web hosting charge. other expenses include P.O. box fee of $226.00/yr., costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.
By Diane Bukowski
On Oct. 3, 2022, 3rd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Thomas Hathaway dismissed all charges against Thelonious ‘Shawn’ Searcy for the murder of Jamal Segars, with prejudice, meaning they could not be refiled. The stinging order repeatedly rebuked the prosecution for “allowing blatant lies to stand.”
Despite Judge Thomas Hathaway’s definitive ruling, a Michigan Court of Appeals panel ruled in favor of WC Prosecutor Kym Worthy, claiming Judge Hathaway “abused his discretion” as a trial Judge in dismissing charges with prejudice on a Brady claim.
Her ruling (above) defines how and why a case based on violations of Brady v. Maryland can be dismissed with prejudice. She cites both federal and state. Local legal analysts from Michigan have said her ruling holds weight in Michigan as well, coming from a sister court that also cites Brady v. Maryland.
VOICE OF DETROIT is a pro bono newspaper, which now devotes itself solely to stories about those who are suffering in 0ur PRISON NATION and POLICE STATE.
By Diane Bukowski 
Over the next years, I put together a comprehensive story using Mr. Merriweather’s well-written letters and additional research showing that the cops responsible for his false conviction had played major roles in other wrongful convictions, including those of Dwight Love and Danny Burton.
DPD’s Ernest Wils0n, Edward Williams beat, coerced false statements from brothers which implicated each other in 2004 Canton St. drug house murders
Alton Hubbard said Williams beat him to his knees with his fist and choked him in a room outside the DPD 7th precinct garage with no surveillance cameras. 
Sh
Ernest Wilson interviewed Davenport after the line-up and had her sign a
She concluded, “In sum, there are more than sufficient questions raised regarding the available evidence, identification of inconsistent testimony, identification of material witnesses/law enforcement agents with known records of police misconduct, and Brady violations from law enforcement, to warrant this matter being accepted by the Conviction Integrity Unit. Mr. Alton Hubbard presents a claim of actual innocence and maintains he was never present at the house on Canton on August 18, 2004.” 
DETROIT — “The courts are dealing with my case, which involves actual innocence, but it seems they are more concerned with being exposed,” Roger Carlos Ray told VOD in a phone call today.
See: 
“We agree in part, vacate the order denying defendant’s motion, and remand to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing on whether the newly discovered evidence satisfies the fourth prong under People v Cress, 468 Mich 678, 692; 664 NW2d 174 (2003), and/or constitutes material evidence under Brady v Maryland, 373 US 83; 83 S Ct 1194; 10 L Ed 2d 215 (1963). We retain jurisdiction.”
Tiya Manning is the mother of Degraffenried’s son Semaje Manning, who was present at the hearing Oct. 8.
Two of the chief players in Hubbard’s frame-up went to work for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy after they retired. and were there as Hubbard repeatedly appealed his conviction. They know what they did, and so do others in the prosecutor’s office, missing “prosecutor files” or not. 
Kinney and other DPD officers locked up Thoanchelle Taylor, a mother of two, as a witness to a 1992 murder. They held her until her 12-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son implicated her in the murder. At trial, Judge Kathleen Judge Kathleen McDonald said there was not a “scintilla of evidence” against Taylor. 
A three-judge panel, including one appointed by then President Donald Trump, issued a 2-1 split ruling to deny Hubbard relief at the first level.
2/21/2018 polygraph examination of Curtis Collins: Petitioner attached as an exhibit to his second amended petition the results of a polygraph examination performed by Michael Anthony on Curtis Collins on February 21, 2018. Anthony asked the following questions of Collins: 1. Did you see Carl Hubbard shoot that man? Answer: No 2. Did you see Carl Hubbard shoot anyone at Gray and Mack in January of 1992? Answer: No 3. Were you present when Carl Hubbard shot that man? Answer: No. Anthony opined that Collins was being truthful regarding his answers to these questions.
DAN GILBERT’S GUANTANAMO BAY? Detainees in CJC Jail denied contact with lawyers & family, subjected to brutal conditions
On Sept. 10, a ground-breaking protest outside the new Wayne County Criminal Justice Center was held on behalf of Ricky Rimmer and hundreds of victims of criminal frame-ups by Detroit cops and Wayne County prosecutors. (Full video and story coming later this week.) Meanwhile, multiple articles have been published in the mainstream media about dire conditions in the CJC Jail, built by Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock firm for $670 million, mostly from public tax dollars. 
